Jul 26 2010

How to Shop “Back to School” on a Budget!

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According to NRF this year, families will spend an average of just over $600 to get their kid’s ready for Back To School!! $600!?!?! That blows me away!

Here’s the breakdown according to the National Retail Federation: Most families agree that growing children means growing apparel budgets. Spending on apparel will take up the majority of consumers’ budgets with the average family of school-aged kids expected to spend $225.47 on jeans, shirts and other types of clothing. Running the gamut from laptops and net books to smart phones and MP3 players, parents are expected to spend an average of $181.60 on their children’s electronic or computer-related school needs. Families will also spend an average of $102.93 on shoes and $96.39 on school supplies.

Back to School is kind of like Christmas, if we let it sneak up on us, we will spend an obscene amount of money getting our kid’s ready for school. But if we plan our purchases and keep our eyes peeled throughout the year, we can spend significantly less!! Here are my tips:

Reuse. Just because it’s a new school year, doesn’t mean your kids need Brand New Everything. Go through the supplies that they have and decide what they can reuse. Items like Backbacks, Lunchboxes, Binders and Calculators can often be reused.

Plan Ahead & Look for Good Quality Basics throughout the year. Shop clothing clearance sales, consignment sales and garage sales all year round. Anticipate what your kids will need for back to school and what size they will be- and shop when the price is right. If your kids are older and more opinionated, this may be a little harder, but you can still find the bascis for then in advance and then take them to buy a few current styles right before they start school

Get Your Kids Involved. Give your kids their budget and have them make a list. Have them separate “wants” from “needs” and let them decide what gets nixed if you are over budget. Also, for older kids, let them bring some of their own money to the table for the 6th shirt that they swear they will die without.

Look for Coupons Before You Go Shopping. (Duh). Whether you are shopping Staples, Rite Aid, or Old Navy search for coupons before you shop. Right now there are tons of Office Supply printable coupons (like spend $25, save $5), plus retail stores want you in their store so they are offering lots of coupons as incentive. Of course, The Krazy Coupon Lady will report on these coupons as we find them.

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What are your tips for spending less getting kids ready for school?!

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http://facebook Rosemary
There is one thing to help out on getting those back to school clothes, as you you said above shop sales. Kmart often has really good sales right before school starts on their clothing. I go every year at the first of July and put clothing on layaway for my son. I often get whats on sale. I do this for every season when they are switching out their clothes. I go 1 to 2 sizes up from his current size. This way buying clothing for my child is never just in one big lot and he is prepared when it comes time for the next season. I also recycle clothing to my sisters and vice versa. We cycle them around to our three families when they are too small.
LaToya
I have a first grader and a third grader. Took them to JC Penney last week – clearance and then $15 off when you spend $75. Paid separately. Got both the kids outfitted and with shoes for less than $130 total.
Teri
Funny that you should just have posted this. I just got back from Value Village with my 10 year old son. We usually get coats there. Most times the coats are in really good shape for a fraction of the cost. Occasionally, we get clothes, but there are usually more worn that we like. For clothes we often hit good sales at Old Navy.

urania
we hit Savers and garage sales, the supplies we reuse as much as possible and when they are on sale we stock up.. usually the largest expense is shoes, but I often try to find them earlier in the year on clearance too

Jennifer
I pick up backpacks and lunch bags during the clearance sales and store them in big plastic bins for the next school year. My kids think it is fun to pick out a new back-pack from the garage along with a lunch bag. I have boys who don’t care much for what color something is as long as it does not match their brothers item. Hand-me-downs from big brother to little brother and a few new items for both from Old Navy, Children’s Place & new shoes for both from Vans and we are all set. Budget for both = $200 and my grand total is $127. And, I am able to enjoy the last 4 weeks of summer without the pressure! That is the best part!
Lindsay
I think I carry this a littl too far because I have my one year old a really cute pink Jansport backpack (90% clearance at Kohls) Hey she will be in preschool, but that backpack will last her for several years:) It if it is bigger than she is right now.
I have a huge barn and no cows though so I can store things in totes as long as my husband doesn’t get too annoyed with shopping 4 years in advance.

Bridgette
Lindsay, I do this exact same thing. Although my daughter is going into preschool this year I have been stockpiling supplies, clothes, and backpacks for years. Sometimes it gets annoying, especially when it’s time to clean the garage or we move, but it’s all worth it in the end because I’m not feeling the pinch this or next month.

Sophie
I didn’t need to buy school supplies for my kindergartner, we just pay a fee to his school, but I cant believe the average family pays $97 on school supplies alone!! I was able to totally outfit 6 kids lists, including a backpack, for $10 dollars a piece to donate to my hubby’s school supply drive at his work. You just have to be creative and wait for the sales! That included a pack of pencils, a pack of pens, crayola 10ct markers, crayola 12ct colored pencils, elmers glue, 2 erasers, 1 rulers, 2 boxes kleenex, crayola 24ct crayons,1 package paper, 2 spiral wide rule notebooks, crayola 16 ct watercolor paint, an even more that I cant even remember anymore all PER kid. I know it gets more spendy as you get older, so I imagine these will go for elementary school kids.
amber
I shop Walmart for school supplies. Crayons don’t go bad! I just wait until crayons, glue,filler paper, scissors and notebooks are 10 cents each and then I buy a bunch and put it away. When my toddlers lose all the crayons I dip into storage. For 10 cents a box, I don’t freak out as much about lost crayons.

urania
we do the exact same..

Karin
School supplies – I start shopping at the beginning of July when the back-to-school sales start. This year has been especially great with the $10 off of $25 coupon and the rebates. I was able to get almost all of my kids school supplies with that $10 I didn’t have to pay for and the other $15 I’ll get back in rebates I bought her backpack at Marshall’s although I could have gotten it for free thru the current Staples deal – she feel in love with this one.
Clothes – I try to buy on sale. This year I scored Vans shoes at the outlets on a buy one get one 1/2 off of their outlet prices I buy a lot of the clothes at yard sales and consignment sales. Usually bday gift cards are used to help buy school clothing.
Andrea B.
I shop at walmart after school starts for the little kids. Being that I’m in college now I start a week after the highschool, middle school, and elementary schools start so everything is between $0.10-$1.00 when I go school shopping. Right now Walmart has $0.15 notebooks, I plan on buying a couple boxes so I have them.

Bridgette
My husband and I both are in college and we have a 3 year old. School supplies get stockpiled in the garage, donated, or used and I also shop for school supplies at Walmart after school starts. I go in there at about 7 am before everyone else gets there and buy boxes of pens, paper, and notebooks because my husband and I go through so much of those items. I also try to go in twice a week because they usually will mark the prices down to 75% off the last week they are there. It’s a game and I love to play.

Kimberly
I have never understood why people spend any extra money around back to school time. I always shop for the following season when this years season goes on clearance. Yesterday I purchased 7 pairs of shorts and 4 t-shirts for $9.96 for my son for next summer. Several months back I bought $39.99 retail coats for this winter for between $5.99 and $15.99. My children never complain that they are not dressing like everybody else because they always look nice and take pride in looking nice instead of looking like everybody and else having their pants down to their knees or wearing the latest teen singer on their shirt. I honestly think that the fact that our family does not watch television helps with this a lot. They are not bombarded by the latest fashions and brainwashed to think certain things are cool. My kids have their own sense of fashion and music and get to pick out their own clothes, so they never complain.

urania
i totally agree that it is insane how much ppl spend. My kids are too little to be picky and I am glad that my kiddos are easy to shop for. I love the clearance racks:)

Fairy
I come from a poor country and have been in the US for a short time now, but the concept of back to school shopping really is mind boggling and frankly shocking (i have never heard or seen anything like it before). Parents around me spend so much money to just dress their kids and for all the other stuff, i wish life was simpler where kids were not made fun of, coz thats what i hear happens if the kids are not dressed with whats “in”. i do not have kids as yet, but am scared of the future where my kids will demand good stuff and spend too much money, coz i am frugal
Sophie
I scored several NICE (a couple high end, one brand new) tops for our soon-to-be 6th grader at the fabulessly-frugal yard sale a couple weeks ago for $.50 each, also a pair of very nice jeans and a sweater. I spent about 5 dollars and shes more than half done with school shopping. We will probably hit up savers or another thrift store for another pair of jeans and maybe some shoes. There is NO sense in spending several hundred (or even ONE hundred) dollars on brand new clothes! They’re only new ONE time, then you wash them, and they are “used” like all the other clothing you would find at a thrift store. Seriously, kids grow SO fast, that a lot of clothes you find at thrift stores are still in great shape for 1/4 the cost (or less during a sale or clearance) I also LOVE walmarts $1-$3 clearance racks! In spring they had tons of shoes and NICE winter coats and tops for me, so I spent 5 and got 2 pairs of cute shoes and 3 tops. The jackets were little boys, and we dont have any of those…but I was seriously tempted to buy them and donate them. I dont think we have paid full price for any clothing for the kids (we also have a 3 yo and a 1 yo) in 2 years. we used to make a LOT more money and I didnt care about cost, I just wanted instant gratification….but that has changed, thankfully So now with being more frugal, I get to be a SAHM and we shop thrift stores….its like treasure hunting…I LOVE IT!
amy
We do not go school shopping. Simply no reason. They can still wear the clothes they have been wearing all summer. The clothes that went on clearance in late winter are clothes I bought for them for this fall/winter. Sure, school supplies, but how much do elementary school kids need. It’s the teachers that ask for supplies for the classroom. Wipes, dry erase markers, stick glue, etc… I think the only thing that I go all out for are new backpacks and lunch cases.